October 9, 1998
Fall Garden Chores
Fall is the time to marvel at nature's fall foliage display, enjoy the taste of a slice of fresh apple pie, and hunt for the perfect pumpkin to carve into a jack-o'-lantern. Fall is also the time to prepare the garden for winter. Fall garden chores include raking leaves, mulching strawberries, and mounding soil around roses.
Minute Pirate Bugs
During the late summer, small, obscure insects known as minute pirate bugs make their presence known in a very convincing manner by biting with an impact that is out of proportion with their size. Their name describes their small size and their habits.
Pirate bugs are about 1/10 of an inch long, oval to triangular in shape, somewhat flattened and black with whitish markings on the back. They are beneficial as predators, feeding on small insects and the eggs of other insects. One pirate bug, the insidious flower bug, is an important predator of corn earworm eggs in corn fields.
Upcoming meetings
Upcoming meetings of possible interest to HHPN readers are listed below. These courses are offered to Commercial Pesticide Applicators to fulfill their Continuing Instructional requirements for 1998. Mailings with registration information for these programs are sent to companies or applicators who are certified in each of the categories. If you are a certified Commercial Pesticide Applicator but do not receive registration information 3 weeks before the program, call the Entomology Department at 515-294-1101.